PYONGYANG, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Thursday unofficially marked the 99th anniversary of the "March 1" popular uprising of Koreans against Japanese invaders.

The ceremony was held by the Korean Council of Religionists at a church here and attendants were mostly religious group members.

The meeting concluded that the uprising was an important chapter in Korea's anti-Japanese national liberation movement and a nationwide anti-Japanese patriotic resistance for the sovereignty and independence of the nation, said the Korean Central News Agency.

The DPRK does not officially celebrate the day but it is observed in South Korea.

The official Korean Central Television Thursday also broadcast documentaries on the Japanese invasion and annexation of Korea in the early 1900s and performances of stories about Koreans resisting Japanese occupiers.

Both Pyongyang and Seoul condemn the Japanese colonial rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945 as the most brutal in the nation's history and asks Tokyo to fully recognize its past crimes.